


Loving In Shadows

by Liam_Minecraft497



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Tags will update as needed, most of the Voltron team works at a bar au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-04-19 12:44:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14237577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liam_Minecraft497/pseuds/Liam_Minecraft497
Summary: Keith has finally decided that he's ready to be in a relationship, this however means he needs to get himself out there.Keith decides to go to his local gay bar, and becomes a regular. Lone wolf Keith has figure out how to be an out homosexual, while keeping the information from his friends and co-workers. If they find out, he could quite possibly lose his friends and his job.Can Keith keep both of his worlds separate?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT: Hello, so, uh, I posted this frequently like, twice, and then stopped. I'm not dead, nothing happened (besides season 7, lol), I just lost interest for awhile (season 7/8 hit me my dudes). Anyway, I just wanted to update this and say that, I'm going to re-write this fanfiction, and plan it out this time. It's gonna be a bit better (maybe a lot). I'm going to keep Galra rivalry at a minimum (like the original script), since this is supposed to focus on klance. Along with some other changes, like the Shiro reveal! Adam will now come into the story (a tiny bit), and (not to spoil my own story too much) Allurance will appear for a short while. I can't wait to finish this! Peace among worlds, my friends (wrong fandom, lmao).
> 
> Hey, so, this is sort of one of my first fanfictions I've ever really posted? Sorry if it sucks.
> 
> So, I wasn't really able to describe Keith's apartment in detail without it seeming weird, so here's a blueprint: https://liam-minecraft497.deviantart.com/art/Keith-s-House-Blueprint-739206252
> 
> If you want to read while I write it, view it here (fixed the link): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-muHx70-BC6gTUJNlAcj2A1B0pnw1HE99GjDTo7YrUg/edit?usp=sharing
> 
> Also, a big thank you to MidnightThrill227 (https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightThrill227/pseuds/MidnightThrill227) for the awesome title, that I was unable to come up with on my own.
> 
> Hope you like chapter one!

Keith’s stomach is in knots.

It was currently eleven o’clock at night,  _ way _ past the usually time Keith went to bed. He sits on his couch in his rental home, watching old recordings of  _ Criminal Minds _ on his nice(ish) flat screen TV. He’d kept a few recorded episodes of his favorite shows mostly for himself, but also so he could show guests.

Speaking of guests, his brother was coming all the way from out of state to visit him for the weekend. Keith would usually be pretty excited to have his brother over, but not this time. Well, he was happy, but also extremely anxious. See, Keith had recently decided he was ready to date. For anyone else, that would mean nothing, and for a twenty-one year old, it was pretty much implied that everyone at that age was ready. But, there’s something different about Keith.

Keith’s gay, and his brother doesn’t know that yet. Keith knew his brother was accepting, he had gay friends, went to Pride with them, was raised by liberal parents. However, none of these facts could stop Keith from worrying. He has never told anyone he was gay before, not once. Because of this, Keith didn’t really know what was the “norm” for gay people. He wondered if the thought of going to Pride should excite him. It didn’t. He constantly asked himself if it was normal for gay guys to develop crushes on their male friends. He couldn’t tell when guys were flirting with him, or when they were just being nice. He didn’t want to dress up in drag, or talk in a higher voice, or wear V-necks, he just wanted to wear what he wanted to wear. He didn’t even know if just thinking any of those thoughts was homophobic or not.

One time, Keith had had enough courage to look up an LGBT+ account on Instagram (an app that his brother had forced him to get, and one he didn’t really know how to use), but once he tapped on their profile, he was scared his brother (and possibly everyone who followed him) would find out what he’d looked up. So he cleared his search history and never did it again. He’d wanted to go back and follow them so bad (the account had looked so friendly, so welcoming), but his caution stopped him every time.

He lets out a long, shaky, sigh. His show had gone to commercials now. He wasn’t even concerned with the commercials anymore, they actually let him think. How was he going to do this? What would he say? What did most people say? When did they say it? Keith had only ever heard snippets of conversations his brother’s friends had when they came over to the house. They always had puns at the ready, should Keith use a pun to come out? Keith sighs again.

Keith remembers when he’d been put into foster care, when his dad had died in an accident. He’d only been twelve. He had threatened to run away from every home they put him in. He did runaway, but only twice, both times ended up with Keith being brought back by the police and him being moved to another home. When he was sixteen, he’d been through at least ten foster homes. He was welcomed into his eleventh like every other, sometimes hugs, usually a snack of some kind, asking if he felt comfortable or excited or whatever floated their boats. He met his new older “brother” then. His name was Takashi Shirogane. Takashi’s parents said he was a teacher, and might even be  _ Keith’s _ teacher at his new school. Keith ended up really bonding with Shiro. Everyone at school called him Shiro, so that’s what Keith started calling him, even at home. Shiro helped him with homework (even though he didn’t really need it), Shiro made him dinner sometimes, Shiro helped him with just about everything. He was the perfect brother. So why is he so nervous now?

The doorbell rings, Keith doesn't move. The doorbell rings twice a minute later, Keith blinks a few times, stands up, and walks over to the door. He opens the door to find Shiro, wearing a baseball cap and holding a box of donuts.

“Why’d you take so long to open the door?” He asks, as if they saw each other everyday.

“Fell asleep. Why’d you bring me donuts?” Keith asks.

“So we’d have something to eat in the morning? You  _ never _ eat breakfast.” Before Keith can respond, Shiro continues. “Are you going to let me in, or am I going to stand out here in the cold all night?”

“Oh, uh, come in.”  _ ‘This is it, Keith.’ _ He thinks to himself.  _ ‘Tonight, at dinner, you tell him.’ _

“What do you have baking?” Shiro asks, setting his stuff on the dining room table.

“Pizza, it should be done soon.” Keith replies, walking over to the oven. Keith read the time, three minutes to go.

“I didn’t know you knew how to use an oven.” Keith couldn’t tell if Shiro was joking or not, Keith was a horrible cook.

“Do you want me to give you a tour, or…?” Keith asks, almost timidly.

“Nah it’s fine, I’m pretty tired, you can give me one in the morning.” Shiro responds. “Hey, where do you want me to put my suitcase?”

“Oh, uh, the bedroom I guess, that door.” Keith points all the way across the room over at the slightly ajar bedroom door.

“Thanks.” Shiro picks up his suitcase off the table, and hauls it into Keith’s bedroom. When Shiro comes back out, Keith doesn’t know what to say, luckily the oven speaks for him.

Keith grabs an oven mitt from one of the cabinets and puts the pizza on the stove. He roots around for his pizza cutter while Shiro roots around in the upper cabinets for plates.

“ _ Right _ side of the oven, Shiro.” Keith tells him.

“Right, of course.” Shiro closes the cabinet door and opens the one above Keith, finding six light pink (almost white) dinner plates to be the only thing there. He grabs two, and walks over to the table.

Keith finally finds the pizza cutter, and cuts them both two slices. Because Shiro took the plates to the table, Keith decides to carry them by hand. It turns out to be a bad idea, as his hands start to burn like hell, but he makes it in time to the table before he gets any real burns, dropping two slices on Shiro’s plate and two on his own.

“Damn Keith, I could’ve just brought the plates back over.” Shiro laughs, taking a bite while Keith sits down on the opposite end of the table.

“It was no problem.” Usually Keith wasn’t that stupid, but tonight he’s too nervous to think straight.

They both start eating, the only sound was from Keith’s TV, that had just gone to commercials again. Keith was trying not to wolf down his food.

“So, how’s-”

“I’m gay.” Silence. Keith doesn’t dare look at Shiro, he just keeps eating. Bite after bite. The more he eats, the worse he feels. Why hasn’t Shiro responded yet? Was Keith wrong? It was one thing to have a friend that was gay, and another to have a gay brother. Did Shiro hate him now? What if-

“How long have you known?” Shiro asks, his voice emotionless.

Keith just keeps eating.

“Keith, stop.”

Keith’s hand freezes in mid air, and he realizes his hand is shaking. He slowly sets the pizza slice down on his plate, still refusing to look up. “Four, five years?” His voice is strained.

“I’m sorry.” Keith looks up in surprise, Shiro was looking down at his plate, a pitiful look on his face. “If I had known I would’ve…”

Keith looks down again. There was silence as they both stared at their plates. This was it, Keith was right, Shiro didn’t like him anymore.

“You don’t have to stay here, if you don’t want.” Keith murmurs.

“What?” Shiro and Keith look up at the same time. “Keith, it’s okay.”

“It is?” Keith asks hesitantly.

“Of course it’s okay!” Shiro says, a soft smile on his face. “It’s just, if I had known, I would’ve taken you to Pride with me and my friends, or made fun of you for having  _ boy _ friends instead of  _ girl _ friends.”

“Oh.” Keith whispers, looking down at his plate again. He’s so relieved, but also a little confused, and he doesn’t know why.

“What made you decide to come out now?” Shiro asks.

Keith looks up. “I wanted to start dating, but that means eventually you’re going to have to meet my future boyfriend, so I figured…”

“Oh, okay. Have you met anyone yet?” He asks.

Keith shakes his head. “You’re the first person I’ve ever told. I haven’t gone out to meet anyone, signed up for any clubs, or even followed any LGBT accounts on Instagram.”

“Well, that’ll change tomorrow. Tomorrow night, I’m going to take you to your first gay bar.” Shiro smiles. “It’ll be fun, I promise.”

Keith sighs with relief again, smiling. “Okay.”

In the silence, Keith looks over, realizing the commercials were finally over.

“ _ Criminal Minds _ , huh?” Shiro asks.

Keith doesn’t look at him, but his smile widens.

“Who’s your favorite character?” He asks.

“Morgan.” Keith replies, still smiling. “He’s really hot.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Sunlight leaks through the closed blinds on the windows, shining down on Keith’s face. Keith blinks his eyes open, checking the time on his phone. He woke up late, it was seven forty-two. Keith groans as he sits up on the couch, his neck was  _ killing _ him. He looks over the back of the couch into the kitchen, there was a note taped to the fridge.

Keith stands up and walks past the table, where Shiro had left the box of donuts, only one was missing. Rubbing his neck, Keith walks over to the fridge. He begins to read the note:

 

‘ _ Dear Keith, don’t freak out. _

_ I woke up and when I saw that you were asleep, I didn’t want to wake you. I went for a walk around the neighborhood, I should be back soon. I left at 5:30, and I have my cell. _

_ Love, _

_ Shiro _ ’

 

Keith takes the note off the fridge and opens the lower cabinet to his left, he throws the note in the trash, and shuts the drawer. Keith yawns, and remembers he hasn’t brushed his teeth yet. He walks past the table and couch and into the bathroom. He picks up his toothbrush and when he’s finished, rinses it off. Finally, now he could dig into the donuts.

Shiro knew him well. Keith found a long john without filling and took it from the box. He sits down at the table and eats the donut, without getting a plate. He licks his fingers and sits down on the couch. Today was going to be a long day. Keith hears the door open and whips around. He relaxes when he sees that it’s Shiro.

“How was the walk?” Keith asks.

“Great, actually.” Shiro responds. “You know, I saw your neighbor from across the street, Althor? He seems nice.”

“Oh, yeah.” Keith says, turning to dig around for the remote. “He loves that cat.”

“What cat?” Shiro asks, closing the door.

“You know, Comet?” Keith finds the remote between two couch cushions.

“Oh, I didn’t see a cat.” Shiro says, sitting down at the table to eat another donut.

Keith turns on the TV and starts flipping through channels. “Believe me, if you spend more than five minutes with him, you’ll get to see the cat. He’s insanely proud of it. You know, it’s a purebred?”

“A purebred what?” Shiro asks after he swallows a bite.

“A purebred cat, I guess.” Keith responds, Shiro laughs.

Once Keith decides that none of the channels are good enough for him, Keith searches for his favorite  _ Criminal Minds _ episode on the DVR. He hits play on, “ _ The Fisher King, Part One _ ”.

“Is this your favorite show now?” Shiro asks.

“Yup.” Keith responds. “Favorite episode too, wanna watch?”

“Sure, just let me put the donuts up.” Shiro replies.

“What?” Keith asks, turning around. “But they’re on a table, they’re fine, aren’t they?”

Shiro picks up the box of donuts and sighs, shaking his head. “Keith, they need to be put in the fridge or the microwave, they can’t just sit out like this. I’m really surprised that you don’t have mice.”

“Oh, is that why I keep finding mini raisins in my cabinets?” Keith asks, turning back to the TV before Shiro could see his smirk.

Shiro was quiet for a few seconds. “You better be kidding, Keith.”

Keith’s laughter told Shiro that he was. Keith went back to watching his show, knowing exactly which part he was at, as he’d seen the episode about a million times.

“Are we going to go somewhere, or are we just going to watch TV all day?” Shiro asks, closing the microwave door.

“I was planning on doing nothing today, and then tonight we go to…” Keith pauses.

“The gay bar?” Shiro asks, moving Keith’s blanket and pillow on the floor next to the couch.

“Uh, yeah.” Shiro sits next to him. “The gay bar.” Keith’s voice wavers slightly on the word, ‘gay’.

“Don’t worry,” Shiro says. “You’ll get used to it.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: Hello, so, uh, I posted this frequently like, twice, and then stopped. I'm not dead, nothing happened (besides season 7, lol), I just lost interest for awhile (season 7/8 hit me my dudes). Anyway, I just wanted to update this and say that, I'm going to re-write this fanfiction, and plan it out this time. It's gonna be a bit better (maybe a lot). I'm going to keep Galra rivalry at a minimum (like the original script), since this is supposed to focus on klance. Along with some other changes, like the Shiro reveal! Adam will now come into the story (a tiny bit), and (not to spoil my own story too much) Allurance will appear for a short while. I can't wait to finish this! Peace among worlds, my friends (wrong fandom, lmao).
> 
> Wow, this chapter took this fanfiction from six pages to fifteen. I haven't even decided if I'm going to add to it yet, or if I'm just going to start a new chapter (I think I might add to it, actually).
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!
> 
> Shiro's shirt: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ef/1e/ab/ef1eab3a279a8ffec2863bb2d7e55b5a.jpg

Keith is literally shaking.

He’s been mugged before, he’s taken self defense classes, he’s raced his motorcycle for money “illegally”, but he’s scared to go into a gay bar? He and Shiro sit on his motorcycle staring at the bar that was named ‘Empire’. The music was so loud, that Keith could hear it from where he was.

Less than thirty minutes ago, at nine thirty-two, Keith had been sitting on his bed while Shiro dug through his dresser, looking for something that Keith would look really good in. Keith had asked over and over if it was necessary, and Shiro, every time, had responded with a stern “yes”. Problem was, Keith didn’t really have anything flashy, so Shiro forced him to wear black jeans, a black T-shirt, his black boots, and his best leather jacket (and of course, Keith always had his trusty pocket knife with him, but Shiro didn’t know about that).

Shiro had decided to wear a black and rainbow lettered T-shirt that said, “Say hey if you’re gay”. Despite Shiro’s best wishes, Keith had refused to say “hey”.

“Are we going to go in?” Shiro asks, hopping off the bike.

“I don’t know,” Keith says hesitantly. “It sounds really loud in there. Are you sure this is the place for me?”

“Well, we don’t have to go in, but I say, give it a try.” Shiro responds. “If you don’t like this place, there’s another bar a few blocks away.”

“Okay.” Keith kicks out his kickstand, and hops off his bike, following Shiro to the door.

The bouncer looks terrifying, even to Keith (who was already pretty nervous). She’s nearly as big as Shiro, and looks five five times angrier.

“Do we need to pay to get in?” Shiro asks her bravely.

“Nope, just don’t cause any trouble.” Her deep raspy voice rumbled in Keith’s chest, or maybe it was the music.

Shiro opens the door, and Keith walks in after him. He’s only taken a few steps inside, and already doesn’t like the place. It’s theme appeared to be purple, incidentally, Shiro’s favorite color. The only lights were light purple, were built into the ceiling above the male and female strippers. Even in the dark, Keith could see Shiro’s blush, and he was sure that Shiro could see his. It was so crowded that Keith couldn’t even see where the actual bar was.

“You want to try the other place?” Shiro practically had to yell.

Keith didn’t bother to respond, he just started making his way to the door, trying to get around the suffocating crowd of people. Once he slips back outside, into the cold, Keith lets out a long shaky sigh.

“That was a bust.” Shiro comments, walking over to the bike.

Keith climbs on without a word, Shiro sits behind him. He kicks in the kickstand, and Shiro wraps his arms as tight as he can around Keith. Shiro _hated_ how reckless Keith was on his bike. It took less than ten minutes to reach the next place.

Keith stops in front of the light brown building, one foot thick brick pillars separating it’s corners from the alleys on either side. Next to the pillar on Keith’s left was a double, almost completely glass, door. A large window was in between the door and the other brick pillar. Good, windows, much less shady.

Keith turns off his bike, slipping his keys into one of his jacket pockets. Shiro hops off while Keith kicks out the kickstand. Through the windows he could see light brown walls, dancing people, and a much smaller crowd, one he might actually be able to walk through. Keith walks in front of the building, standing in the middle of the sidewalk, he reads the sign.

“Vol-tron?” Keith asks, looking to his left at Shiro. “Like, the movie?”

Shiro looks at him. “What movie?”

“You know, _Tron_?” Keith asks.

“I think this is something different, Keith.” Shiro says, a smile on his face. He starts walking towards the door.

Keith follows him. “Okay, but if I see _one_ person in a gray and blue leotard, I’m leaving.”

Shiro laughs as he opens the door, and they both step inside. Instead of playing heavy-based songs, like in ‘Empire’, this place had happy-sounding pop songs (and was significantly quieter). Already an improvement. In front of them was a counter, which Keith at first thought was the bar, but then realized it was where you ordered food. To his left, the whole wall had a long couch with tables and everything. Keith would’ve called it a booth, but it didn’t quite look like one, it was all connected. To his right, was the bigger part of the building. Against the far back wall, was the bar, and to the right of it, the bathrooms. Against the far right wall, were a few more tables, another counter, and a smaller, closet like room, that had it’s door closed. Right next to the door they had just entered, was a small counter with a young looking kid behind it. The kid waves them over.

“Sup guys, can I help you?” Keith reads their name tag, Pidge. As well as their name, it states pronouns as well, they/them. Pidge’s head reaches Keith’s collarbone, and Shiro’s chest, Keith is surprised that they’re twenty-one.

“Uh, yeah. See, my brother here doesn’t know a lot about the LGBT+ community, but really wants to learn, is there anyone here that could help educate him?” Shiro asks.

“Let me give you the tour.” Pidge says, smiling. They point to the first counter where the food appears to be coming from. “Over there at that counter is Coran, nice guy, not very educated on the LGBT+ community. In the kitchen behind him is Hunk, who’s, like, the best cook ever.” They turn around and point behind them at the counter in the corner. “Over there, playing the music, is my brother Matt. He loves things like your T-shirt, and always has a pun locked and loaded. To our right, behind him, is our boss’s office, her name’s Allura, sometimes she’s out and about, but usually not.” They point at the bar. “And over there is Lance. He’s the guy to talk to. He knows just about everyone in here, he’s really educated in the LGBT+ community, like I am, but he’s pretty stupid in every other subject. I’d educate you myself, but I’ve gotta hand out all these stickers and bracelets and shit.”

Keith looks down at the counter, he hadn’t noticed, but there were several different pride flag stickers on the counter, each stack appeared to have a different amount. Pidge pulls out a small, clear, plastic box, filled to the brim with bracelets, out from underneath the counter.

“Want one?” Pidge asks Shiro and Keith.

“Uh, sure. What do they say?” Shiro asks.

“Basically just what you’re looking for partner-wise. Like, some say, ‘looking for girls’ others say, ‘looking for guys” some say, ‘looking for girls and guys’, and a few other different versions of that. The stickers are just pride flag stickers, but if we don’t have your flag,” Pidge digs under the counter again and pulls out a clipboard. “Write what sexuality and/or gender you are on here, and we’ll try to order some next time around.”

Keith reads the list, but doesn’t know what any of the words mean.

“Wow, this place is really top notch!” Shiro says excitedly.

“We try.” Pidge says, acting like they didn’t think it was a big deal.

“I think we’ll head over to the bar.” Shiro says.

“Okay, just watch out for Lance, he’s a flirt.” Pidge responds.

“Thanks, Pidge!” Shiro calls back as he and Keith make their way through the crowd.

“No problem!” They respond.

As they walk through the crowd, two people say, “hey” to Shiro in reference to his shirt. Each time, Shiro proudly says hello back, and hands out high-fives. When they get to the bar, they both stand behind the bar stools and see the bent over shape of a young guy, rooting around under the counter.

“Hold on guys, I’m looking for the cherries.” The guy behind the bar, Lance, says apologetically. The two guys he’s talking to just smile politely, both saying that it’s okay. When Lance finally stands up, he’s holding a large mason jar full of cherries. “How many do you want? Limit’s five.”

“Five then.” One of the guys says with a smile.

“Here you go!” Lance says, dropping five cherries into their drink. “Five cherries to the cutest couple in the building.”

They both laugh. Lance puts the cherries back as he starts to talk again.

“Sorry for the wait you two, what’ll it-” Lance stops when he sees Shiro and Keith. “Damn, I spoke too soon on the ‘cutest couple’ thing.”

Keith, worried about Lance’s insult to the other couple, looks left, around Shiro, at the other couple. Instead of taking it as an insult, they both laugh.

“Actually, this is my brother, Keith.” Shiro says.

“Oh, yikes, swing and a miss.” Lance says. “Wait, are you Takashi Shirogane?”

“Uh, yeah?” Shiro asks hesitantly.

Lance suddenly straightens up and gasps. “I know you! You’re like, my hero! I’m a _huge_ fan of your work.”

“My work?” Shiro asks.

“Yeah, you know, your articles? I read _every one_ in the paper. Everyday I hoped I could be in one of your classes.” Lance says smiling.

“Oh, thank you. Did you go to the Garrison?” Shiro asks.

“Hell yeah I went to the Garrison! I wouldn’t let my parents take me anywhere else.” Lance says. “Free drinks for my childhood idol. So, what brings you to a place like this?”

“My brother, actually.” Shiro says, putting his hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“Why, he lookin’ to get laid?” Lance winks at Keith, and Keith blushes.

“Actually, we’re sort of here to educate him.” Shiro cups a hand around Keith’s ear. “Can I tell him?” He whispers, Keith nods, still nervous about being in a place like this. “You see, he came out for the first time the other day, and doesn’t know a lot about the community.”

“You’ve come to the right place.” Lance says. “He should’ve gotten a sticker, those are super useful.”

“Oh no, I forgot to grab one!” Shiro says, looking longingly back at the counter.

“You can go get one if you want, I’ll be fine here.” Keith assures him.

“Are you sure?” Shiro asks.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Keith sits down on the bar stool, and turns around to look at Shiro.

“Alright, see you later.” Shiro walks off. Keith hears another guy say “hey” to him. When Keith turns back around his face is only one inch away from Lance’s, who was leaning over the counter.

“Did you happen to go to the Garrison?” Lance asks him, his eyes narrowing.

“Uh, yeah?” Keith says, leaning back a little.

“And your name was Keith, right?” Lance asks.

Keith swallows. “Yeah?”

Lance snorts and stands up straight, crossing his arms. “I’d recognize that mullet anywhere, you’re that asshole who’d always try to one up me.”

“What?” Keith asks.

“Yeah! You’d always try to beat me, in every subject.” Lance says with malice.

Keith shakes his head. “No, I don’t even remember you.”

Lance’s eyes narrow with rage, he looked like he was about to kill Keith. “ _How_ do you not know me? It was _us_ , you know? Lance and Keith, neck and neck?”

A sudden realization dawns upon Keith. “Oh, I remember you. You were that kid who got me expelled.”

Lance smiles. “Proud of it, too.”

Keith frowns. “I was the only eighteen year old in a class of sixteen year olds. I had to retake an entire semester of highschool.”

Lance snorts. “You deserved it.”

“I didn’t even remember you until five seconds ago!” Keith says angrily, throwing his hands up.

That’s when a woman sits down, to Keith’s left, one seat away from Keith, leaving a seat between them. She’s tall, maybe taller than Lance, and has long blonde hair that hangs all the way down by her hips. Her hair was split into two side ponytails, and she wears purple colored contacts.

“Hey Lance, how’s my special boy doing?” Her voice was like honey. Lance’s whole demeanor changes. He leans over the counter towards the girl, his flirtatious attitude back.

“ _Much_ better now that you’re here, my sweet.” Lance replies smoothly. Even though the flirting isn’t directed at Keith, he still blushes.

“Who’s this sweet piece of ass sitting next to me?” The girl asks, gesturing to Keith with her right hand. Keith blushes even further.

“Oh, that guy, he’s not worth your time, Nyma.” Lance sneers. Keith frowns at him.

“Why, what’d he do?” She turns to Keith. “What could you possibly do to piss off the nicest man in the world?”

“I don’t know.” Keith responds honestly.

She smiles. “Well, the name’s Nyma, what’s yours?”

“Keith.” Keith replies.

Nyma holds out her right hand. “Nice to meet you.” They shake.

“Actually, it’s not nice to meet him? He’s an asshole?” Lance reminds them, straightening up again.

“Oh hush Lance, let me meet your friend.” Nyma responds.

“He’s not my-”

“So, how’d you meet Lance?” She asks, ignoring Lance completely.

“In highschool.” Keith responds, not sure on how else to put it. “What about you?”

Nyma grins. “We don’t need to talk about that.” Lance says, a blush spreading across his face. He turns to Keith. “Do you want anything to drink?”

Before Keith can answer, Nyma interrupts. “Ignore him.”

“Nyma, please don’t do this!” Lance begs her, but she keeps going without even looking at him.

“One day, I find myself a little strapped for cash, so I come in here, hoping to pick up a nice girl to take my mind off things.” She explains with a wink. “And then I see Lance, and he’s flirting with me, and giving me free drinks so I think, ‘Man, this guy’s _dumb_ as _shit_.’ So I tell him to meet me out back behind the building after closing time. So he comes back there, and we flirt a little more, then I tell him he’s cute, and that I want to show him something.” She laughs. “Then, I take his hand, walk with him out to the sidewalk, and cuff him to a meter!” Now she was really losing it. “And guess what he says, guess what he says!” She lets out another huff of laughter. “He says, ‘Woah, this is kind of-’”

“And then she stole my wallet, the end. Great story, Nyma.” Lance says quickly. Keith looks at him, Lance was redder than Keith thought a guy with his skin color could even get.

“Oh Lance, you didn’t let me finish.” Nyma says, smiling widely. She turns back to Keith. “So then he says, ‘Woah, this is kind of kinky.’” She bursts out laughing again, Lance looks like he’s on fire. “I was laughing so hard, I almost let him keep his wallet. I think he thought I was gonna grab his ass too, because he didn’t say anything until I started running away.”

Keith could feel the blush on his face. “And you guys became friends after that?”

“She was dumb enough to come in the next night. I told her that if she didn’t give me my wallet back, I’d call the police.” Lance says, while drying a glass, not looking at either of them.

“Oh, I knew he wouldn’t do it.” Nyma says. “But I gave him his wallet back anyway. Charity, you know?”

“Bullshit.” Lance murmurs to himself.

“Oh Lance, you know I love you.” She says sweetly.

All Lance does in reply is let out a huff of air.

Nyma gets up and sits on the stool next to Keith. She swivels the seat so that she is fully facing him. For the first time, Keith notices she has a pink striped sticker on her left shoulder.

“So,” She begins. “What brings you here?”

Keith blushes again. “Well, I told my brother I was-” He cuts himself off, not sure if he can really say it. “G-gay, and he brought me here to-”

“Tap some ass.” Lance deadpans.

Nyma turns to Lance, annoyance spread across her face. “Lance! Let the poor kid speak.” Nyma regains her smile, and turns her full attention to Keith.

“He’s older than me, you know, he’s not a ‘kid’.” Lance responds, but Nyma doesn’t even glance at him.

Keith continues. “He wanted me to learn more about the LGBT community. Pidge told us that Lance was the guy to talk to about this stuff.” Keith allows himself to give Lance a shy glance, Lance just stares back, his face blank.

Nyma rolls her eyes. “I’ve been in the LGBT+ community way longer than he has. Compared to me, he knows nothing.”

“That’s not true!” Lance objects.

Nyma gives him a side glance. “Lance, you thought you were straight when we met.”

“I was in denial!”

“And you worked in a gay bar?”

“ _Deep_ in denial.”

“You asked me what bisexual was.”

Lance throws his hands up. “Okay, so I was a little uneducated, alright? No need to rub it in. Besides, you’re twenty-four, there’s no way I can ever be in the LGBT+ community longer than you have.”

“Well, if she died and you lived three years longer than her you would.” Keith comments.

Nyma’s eyes widen, and Lance’s narrow.

“Wow Keith,” Lance says, blinking slowly. “Way to ruin a good time. I mean, I guessed by the all black clothes, and I was right… you’re fuckin’ emo.”

Keith frowns at Lance, honestly confused about what he’d done wrong.

“Lance, don’t get catty.” Nyma warns him, but her just rolls his eyes in response. “So, you wanna learn about the LGBT+ community?”

Keith nods.

“Okay, any questions before I start?” Nyma asks.

Keith pauses for a moment. “Do I have to dress up in drag?”

“Um,” Nyma looks at Lance, who had a slight blush to his cheeks. Keith wondered if he should feel embarrassed. “No, not if you don’t want to.”

“Oh, okay.” Keith replies.

“Now, what do you know about the LGBT+ community?” Nyma asks. “Or, a better question, describe it for me.”

“Uh,” Keith looks down at his lap, twiddling his thumbs together. “It’s… gay people? And people who like… both genders?” Keith looks up at Nyma nervously.

“Okay,” Nyma says, her eyebrows a little furrowed, but a reassuring smile on her lips. “That’s kind of right, but that could also be viewed as offensive by some people. See, you said, ‘both genders’, which implies that there are only two genders.”

“Oh.” Keith looks down again, ashamed of himself.

“No, Keith, it's okay.” Nyma places a hand on his shoulder. “That question was just helping me figure out where to start.”

“Okay,” Keith looks up at her. “How many genders are there?”

“Well,” Nyma begins with a smile, she sets both of her hands in her lap while she talks. “Gender is a spectrum, not really a binary. So, while someone can identify as one gender, everyone is different. See, some people are more male or female than others, but, again, everyone is different, even if they’re only a little different.”

“Oh, okay.” Keith says, starting to understand, but becoming more confused at the same time. Another person sits a few seats down, to Keith’s right (behind Keith now, since he was facing Nyma). Lance goes over to ask them what they want to drink, leaving Nyma and Keith alone.

“Now, let’s start with the acronym. Do you know the full acronym?” Nyma asks.

“No.” Keith says, feeling stupid.

“The full acronym is LGBTQIAP, depending on who you ask, of course. The L stands for lesbian, like yours truly, the G stands for gay, the T stands for transgender, the Q stands for questioning and queer, the A stands for asexual, agender, and aromantic, and the P stands for pansexual, polysexual, pangender, polygender, and polyamorous. I know, it’s a lot, but you’ll get it eventually.” Nyma’s sympathetic smile returns. “Now, you’ll hear a lot of people say that the A also stands for ally, but this is pretty heavily debated in the LGBT+ community. You see, allies have a choice to be an ally, gay people don’t _choose_ to be gay. And I say, if you were only supporting us so that you could be in the acronym, then you were never really supporting us.”

Keith silently agreed with her, but as Lance walked over, Keith felt he had different opinions than the ones he and Nyma held.

“Yeah, but Nyma, we need all the support we can get.” Lance says, not angrily, just concerned, desperate almost.

“Lance, I’m not going to fight you on this. That’s just my opinion.” Nyma says, turning to him.

“I know, and you’re entitled to your opinion, but I can’t help but feel different.” Lance replies, crossing his arms.

“What, you think we should let allies be in the acronym?” She asks.

“Well, no, but we should treat them with respect. They’re supporting us.” Lance argues.

“Yeah, and I’m not saying we should disrespect them, I’m just saying, they shouldn’t support us if all they wanted was the benefit of saying, ‘I’m in the LGBT+ community’ and not actually meaning it.” Nyma responds.

Lance looked like he had more to say, but held his tongue. A girl with light brown skin and short brown hair sits in the seat behind Nyma without her noticing. She was wearing a black crop top, puppy ears, and light brown cargo pants, all topped with a sly smile on her face. With her right hand, she whispers something into Nyma’s right ear. A devious smile spreads across Nyma’s face, as well as a blush.

Nyma turns her head to look at the girl, but the girl stands up, winks, sticks out her tongue, throws a peace sign, and disappears into the crowd. Nyma spins her stool to face the bar, and throws Lance and Keith an apologetic smile. Lance had a knowing smile on his lips.

“Sorry fellas, I’ve gotta go.-” Nyma gets cut off.

“Go suck face with my girlfriend.” Lance interrupts.

Nyma stands up. “Behave now, Lance. I don’t tease you about-”

“Enjoy your yiff, sweetheart!” Lance interrupts again, a slight blush on his cheeks.

Nyma turns red. “Fuck you, Lance!” As she walks away she flips him the bird.

Once Lance and Keith can no long see Nyma, they turn to each other.

“So,” Lance starts. “Want a drink?”

“Uh, sure.” Keith replies.

Lance turns around, appearing to look for a glass or something. “What do you want?”

“Just bear, I guess.” Keith says, not sure what to say.

“You’ve never been to a bar before, have you?” Lance asks, grabbing a Guinness glass. He starts to poor him a drink out of a spigot.

Keith cringes. “Yeah, I’ve been to a bar once or twice.”

Lance sets down the drink in front of Keith. “I guess this means I have to educate you now.”

Keith takes a sip from his glass. “I thought that was the original agreement?”

Lance sighs. “I can’t stop you from coming here, and Nyma only shows up on Saturdays, and that’s if she’s not out with Rolo.” Lance leans on the bar. “I guess we’ll be spending some time together.”

Keith liked the thought. After some thought, Keith did remember Lance a little bit from high school. Keith had admired him for going after every girl with equal enthusiasm and taking the rejections with dignity. However much Lance had annoyed him, which he had a little, he still respected him. Truth was, he wasn’t the worst guy Keith had ever met, he’d just been fighting bigger battles than the one he’d apparently been having with Lance.

“How many days a week will you be coming here? I’ve gotta prepare myself for the toxic levels of pessimism and emo-ness you put out on a daily basis.” Lance says, staring at Keith, waiting for a reaction.

“What do you mean, ‘how many days a week’?” Keith asks, choosing to ignore his sly comment about Keith’s attitude.

“What? You think you can learn all this stuff in one night? Not how it works, pal. It took me at least six months to learn the basics, and I was literally studying it. After all, this is a safe space for people, and I don’t wanna piss anyone off.” Lance says. “And that was me, hanging out everyday with tons of sources. You? You’ve got me, your brother, and Nyma.”

“So, I have to come here every Saturday so Nyma can teach me?” Keith asks.

“Yup. At least, that’s what I’d prefer, because, if you haven’t guessed, I don’t like you.” Lance narrows his eyes at Keith.

Keith looks down at his drink, most of it was left, but Keith wasn’t going to waste it. He downs his glass without even taking a breathing break, sets down the glass, and stands up.

Lance, still leaning over the counter, looks up at him quizzically. “Are you gonna pay for that?”

Keith pulls out six bucks and sets it on the table. “Keep the change.”

Lance picks up the two bills. “Oh thank you so much, sir! Now I can buy a lunch tomorrow!”

Keith rolls his eyes. “See you next Saturday.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Are you sure you don’t need any help with your stuff, Shiro?” Keith asks for the hundredth time.

Shiro picks up some folded clothes on the bed and sets them down gently into his suitcase. “For the last time, Keith, I didn’t bring a lot of stuff, I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure you don’t need money for gas or-” Shiro interrupts Keith before he can say anymore.

“Keith, you’re a poor twenty-year-old living on his own for the first time, you don’t have any money to give.” Shiro smiles. He was right.

“That’s not true.” Keith murmurs to himself, but Shiro doesn’t even bother responding.

“I’ll be fine, Keith, don’t worry. I drove myself down here, didn’t I?” Shiro picks up his suitcase and walks out of Keith’s bedroom, Keith follows close behind.

“Don’t you want to eat breakfast before you go?” Keith asks Shiro as he’s walking outside.

“Hell yeah, I’m just putting this in the trunk.” Shiro responds while Keith walks back into the kitchen from the front door. Shiro didn’t like eating breakfast on the go, not after he’d had a bad experience with a breakfast at McDonalds.

Keith grabbed the box of donuts from the microwave and set them down on the dining room table. He grabs an unglazed donut and sits down to eat, without a plate. Shiro comes back inside and shuts the front door.

“Ah, Keith, still the same way you were when you were little.” Shiro comments, grabbing a plate and a strawberry cream filled donut.

“You never knew me when I was little.” Keith reminds him.

“Well, I can guess what you were like. You never ate on a plate when you were sixteen either.” Shiro sits down and begins to eat.

Keith finishes and sweeps the crumbs onto the floor. Shiro shakes his head.

After awhile of saying goodbye, both of them saying they wished Shiro could stay longer, and both of them telling stories to procrastinate Shiro leaving, Shiro finally leaves. Keith sits down on the couch, not knowing what to do with himself. It was only nine thirty-three, and Keith was already bored. Today was going to be a long day.

Last night in the bar, after Keith had downed his drink, he found Shiro talking to a kid named Matt, who Keith didn’t recognize until Shiro reminded him that Matt had gone with him on the Kerberos Mission (in other words, a exclusive field trip to a space station). They talked a little while longer before leaving, with Shiro having to drive them both since Keith had had a drink. Once they got home, Shiro declared he was tired and went to bed. Keith was exhausted by that night’s events, and fell asleep shortly after on the couch.

Keith needed to do something. Clean the bathroom? It was filthy, but he didn’t feel like it. Clean the fridge? He didn’t feel like that either. The only other things he could think to do were chores. No matter how tired being there had made him, Keith wanted to go back to the bar. The amount of acceptance he’d felt that night had made him feel like he was on air, he hadn’t needed a drink from the bar to feel lightheaded.

Whipping out his phone with sudden urgency, Keith typed ‘Voltron’ into the search bar. For some reason, lots of pictures from an old eighties cartoon popped up, but Keith also found the bar’s schedule on their website (which he bookmarked). It was open from eight in the afternoon to one in the morning on weekdays and Saturdays, and closed on Sundays. Keith felt his heart sink. He closes the app on his phone and puts it back into his back pocket. He sighs and leans his head on the back of the couch.

Keith decided he would clean the bathroom.

After he was done with that, the fridge.

After he was done with that, who knows?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it!
> 
> Because I get so anxious about making you guys wait in between chapters and stuff, I will post the chapter(s) unedited or incomplete. So, keep checking in, and some chapters may get longer, or may just be easier to understand after I edit them. Also, please don't feel sacred to point out grammatical errors, it really helps me out, thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: Hello, so, uh, I posted this frequently like, twice, and then stopped. I'm not dead, nothing happened (besides season 7, lol), I just lost interest for awhile (season 7/8 hit me my dudes). Anyway, I just wanted to update this and say that, I'm going to re-write this fanfiction, and plan it out this time. It's gonna be a bit better (maybe a lot). I'm going to keep Galra rivalry at a minimum (like the original script), since this is supposed to focus on klance. Along with some other changes, like the Shiro reveal! Adam will now come into the story (a tiny bit), and (not to spoil my own story too much) Allurance will appear for a short while. I can't wait to finish this! Peace among worlds, my friends (wrong fandom, lmao).
> 
> I'm so sorry this took so long! This chapter is pretty long, and pretty eventful. I'm super proud of it. I really love posting this fanfiction, the love it's getting was so unexpected!
> 
> I actually prepared this time, and everything is touched up and finished.
> 
> Hope you guys like it, enjoy!

Keith groans and turns off his alarm for seven o’clock on his phone. Time to go to work.

Keith gets out of bed and slips on a pair of pants and his only solid white T-shirt. Today was supposed to be hot. Keith walks into the kitchen and pulls out the box of donuts, he eats the last long john and throws the empty box away. He opens his front door, phone in back pocket, wallet in the other, and walks out into his driveway. He walks next door to the empty lot, where he works.

A few weeks ago, Keith had made the worst mistake of, well, at least this year. Before he got his current job, he made his money off of racing his motorcycle. Now, this act in itself wasn’t _exactly_ illegal, but not really something you’d just do in the park. The most illegal part of his motorcycle racing career had been dealing with gangs. Some were “nice”, in that they didn’t kill you or beat you up if you beat one of them in a race, they just gave you the money. Other gangs, if you raced one of their team members and won, you had a pretty good chance of being beaten up, and if you lost and didn’t pay them, you’d probably get beaten up too. Keith (thankfully) didn’t learn either of these lessons the hard way.

One night, he’d gone up against a kid Keith knew he could beat. The kid had made a stupid bet, and Keith wasn’t opposed to taking the high schooler's money. They found an empty lot, and raced. Almost all of Keith’s races had big crowds, whether they were planned or not. This particular race had quite a few people at it. Kids started spray painting equipment, playing loud music, fighting, and stuff like that.

It just so happened, that the boss had left his phone in his trailer-of-an-office. When he came back to the lot to get it, he started yelling, and all the kids ran. Keith had just finished winning the race, and was pressuring the kid to pay up, when the guy grabbed him. Keith had struggled, but he knew better than to punch a guy that big. The boss threatened to tell the cops that Keith had been trespassing and vandalizing, but offered up the idea to work off the damage instead. Keith had saved up money from some of his bigger races (the bets had gone up to around five hundred dollars a race, races that he did three to four times a week), so he was able to afford food until they actually started paying him.

Keith walked across the lot to the center, where several of Keith’s coworkers already stood. Keith saw three guys, Donovan, Johnny, and Justin. They all stood around the excavator, the unofficial hang out spot.

Donovan was in pretty good shape (not Shiro-good-shape, but still), he had shortish, light, dirty blonde hair, and the faint outlines of abs when he took off his shirt (something Keith had just happened to notice out of the corner of his eye, and not because of staring). Donovan made the most gay jokes out of every construction worker who worked there, so it wasn’t hard for Keith to not feel attraction to him, even if he had pretty brown eyes. Donovan was twenty-five years old, and was not in a relationship (what a surprise).

Johnny had a slight beer belly, and thick hairy arms. He had slick black hair, and brown eyes. He also had a mullet, worse than Keith’s, it was buzzed on the top, but long in the back. He was the oldest out of the three, Keith didn’t know his exact age, but he knew Johnny was in his late thirties. He was married, and had one kid, a son, his pride and joy. Johnny was a sexist asshole.

And finally, Justin. Justin was twenty years old, had blue eyes, light brown hair, and pale skin, almost as pale as Keith’s. He was the same height as Keith, and was thin, but still had a little muscle to him. Justin was Keith’s favorite coworker. Justin always gave Keith a soft, shy smile, and was always very nice and accepting towards him. Keith actually had sort of a low-key crush on him. Number one, he was the only guy he worked with that wasn’t an asshole, and number two, he was _very_ cute.

Keith walked up to the group. Justin gave Keith a shy smile and a wave as he approached. Justin’s smile fades when Donovan starts to speak.

“Hey pansey, how was your weekend?” Donovan asks, a smile on his face. When Keith doesn’t respond, he keeps going. “I saw that car leave your driveway, you got a boyfriend now?”

Johnny lets out an elongated “ooooooooh”, like they were in middle school and Keith got called up to the office.

“That was my brother.” Keith says shortly. He walks up to Justin and leans his back on the excavator next to him.

“Gross, you’re fucking your brother?” Johnny asks, sending both him and Donovan into fits of laughter. Justin shoots Keith one of his familiar, sympathetic, worried, puppy-dog looks. A face him and Keith often give each other when the other was harassed in such a fashion.

“Sup guys!” Keith turns to his right and watches Chace get out of his car. The kid came straight from highschool to this job, he’s eighteen, and acts like it. Chace had short blonde hair, and a slight tan, a classic construction worker look. He always wore his high school football jacket, like it would bring him back to the days when he was popular. Today he wore a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and his classic blue-and-white jacket.

“Nothin’ much faggot. What’d you do this weekend?” Donovan shoots back.

A devious smile spreads across Chace’s face. “Oh nothing, I was just busy fucking your mom, that’s all.”

They all laugh. Justin shoots Keith another look, and he returns it.

“When’s Joey gonna show?” Donovan asks Chace.

“Dunno, I tried callin’ him but he wouldn’t answer the door.” Chace and Joey shared a duplex together. Chace had one half, Joey had the other. Joey was almost always sick, and Keith had no idea why he hadn’t been fired yet, but he had a feeling that Chace clocked him in when he didn’t show up for work.

“Who we waitin’ on now?” Johnny asks, always eager to get to work.

“Jeff and Charlie.” Donovan rolls his eyes and takes a sip from a plastic water bottle, one that had come from nowhere.

For awhile it's quiet, then Donovan, Johnny and Chace get into an argument about which football teams they prefer. Keith sighs and walks around to the other side of the excavator, facing towards the road. Keith leans against it, knowing his white shirt was getting dirt stains in it, and not caring.

“Mind if I join you?” Justin asks hesitantly, standing at the corner of the excavator. His arms seemed to be stuck to his sides like glue, and he was standing as straight as a two-by-four. That’s just how Justin was, whenever he asks a question he freezes like he’s afraid you’ll yell at him.

“Sure.” Keith replies, smiling. He could always count on Justin to make him feel better. He felt a real connection with Justin. They didn’t even need to talk, Keith just needed to be near him to feel like he wasn’t alone.

Justin smiles and leans on the excavator next to him, standing only a foot away. Keith’s heart skips a beat, his gay feelings were getting out of control. They had worked for almost a month together now, and Keith barely knew anything about him. Once, Chace, Donovan and Johnny had invited Keith and Justin to some celebration party at a bar, for God knows what. Justin had asked if Keith wanted to go. Keith had taken one look at the others, and knew he didn’t want to, Justin seemed to be begging him. After Keith said no, Justin shyly suggested that they both go to a different bar, one that wasn’t the one the others were going to. Keith had wanted to go so badly (wondering if Justin had meant he wanted to go on a date, or just hang out), but knew that if he said yes, and the other guys found out, they would both be called faggots for the rest of their lives. Keith told Justin about his concerns, and they both seemed to agree it was best to not hang out outside of work.

Justin looks over at him. “So, how was the visit with your brother?” Justin asks, but he seemed more relaxed now that they were away from the others.

Keith smiles. “Good.”

“He live far away?” Justin asks.

“Out of state, five hours away.” Keith responds, still looking at Justin. “What’d you do this weekend?”

Justin blushes. “Oh, nothing.” That was another thing Justin did, he blushed really easily, especially if you were taking notice in him. If he dropped something and you gave it back to him, he’d blush. If you offered him water, he’d blush. Keith loved that about him, he was just so _cute_.

Keith didn’t push him any further, Justin didn’t like to focus on himself for very long. They both stared out at the street, waiting for the last two guys to show up. Keith pulled out his phone at some point and checked the time, seven fifteen, five minutes until work starts.

“Lets go you two! We’re not waiting around for Jeff and Charlie anymore.” Donovan sounded pissed, he must have gotten really riled up in that argument with Johnny and Chace.

Keith and Justin make their way over to the trailer next to Keith’s house. They all clammer inside and clock in five minutes early. The trailer just has a desk and a couch in it, and is only used when it’s over ninety-eight degrees outside or when it’s below eleven (for breaks only, of course).

“Hurry up guys, we need to finish digging out the foundation.” Donovan says gruffly, jumping down the stairs out of trailer. Keith follows him down, Justin right behind him. A few seconds later, Johnny and Chace come out, neither of them looked too happy either.

Keith picks up one of the shovels on the ground in a pile next to the trailer. Johnny had suggested awhile back, that since they didn't have more than one excavator, that the others should use shovels. Turns out, Johnny is the only guy who can legally use the excavator, so that means that everyone but him has to pick up a shovel. Everyone except him and Chace, of course. Chace figured out that if he “helped” Johnny from the outside of the excavator, by telling him where to go, and when he could back up, he could get out of shoveling. So that’s what Chace does, everyday.

Keith didn’t actually mind shoveling. The longer building the house took, the longer Keith had a job. Keith had enough money saved up from racing to last him the first week or two of not getting paid, but after that he didn’t have much. Also, Keith wasn’t a hired part of the team, technically. Donovan, Johnny, Chace, Charlie, and Jeff were a hired part of the team, which meant after this job was over, their boss got them on another job right away. However, Justin and Keith were just temporary, and after this job was over, they’d both have to find some other place to work.

Keith walks over to the side of the lot that was near the corner of the two streets. The excavator operated at the opposite side of the lot, for safety reasons. Even though it was a nice seventy-six degrees out, Keith knew he’d be sweating by the time he was done. Keith digs his shovel into the ground, Justin a few feet away from him, to his left. Donovan worked a little ways off to his right. Today was going to be another long day.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Just when Keith thought he couldn’t go any further, Donovan calls for a break.

Keith wipes the back of his hand on his forehead, and picks up his shirt off the ground. It was eleven thirty, time for lunch. Keith walks off the lot and into his house, thankful to be out of the sun. He makes a sandwich, wraps it in foil, and brings it back outside. He couldn’t leave Justin alone to eat with _those_ guys.

He walks across the lot, and over to the excavator. Today was one of the many days that everyone ate outside, afterall, it was really nice. Keith leans against the excavator next to Justin and drops his white shirt on the ground by his feet. Keith eats slowly, trying to savor his sandwich and his time standing next to Justin.

Sadly, lunchtime was one of the worst parts of Keith’s work days. During lunch, Donovan, Johnny, and Chace would often catcall all the girls walking down the sidewalk. Only once had a girl stood up for herself, and when she called them out for their rude behavior, she was only harassed further. One time, Chace had been dumb enough to catcall a women walking with her boyfriend. Chace probably would’ve been beaten up too, if Johnny and Donovan hadn’t backed him up. Chace never made that mistake again.

“ _Hey_ pretty lady!” Johnny calls to a poor women jogging down the sidewalk. Keith felt bile rise in the back of his throat.

Normally Keith would’ve kicked someone’s ass for doing something so disgusting, but Keith could lose his job if he ever told them to stop. See, Donovan was best friends with the boss, so if he didn’t like you, you had a good chance of being fired. Another reason Keith hadn’t come out to the assholes he worked with. Keith had thought about coming out to Justin, but it was just too risky.

Keith swallows his last bite and shoves the ball of foil into one of his jean pockets. He stands up straight then leans over to grab his shirt. He slings it over his shoulder, Justin stands up next to him. Keith looks over at the other guys, Donovan, Johnny, Chace, and Charlie (who had showed up right on time for work). He sighs.

“Maybe they’ll change.” Justin murmurs. When Keith looks over at him, his head is down, his hands are in his pockets, and he’s scuffing around in the dirt with his shoe.

 _‘Hopefully.’_ Keith thinks to himself.

“Let's just get back to work.” Keith grumbles, walking over to the shovels. Justin follows him. In the distance he can hear the others hooting and cooing at another woman on the street.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“See ‘ya tomorrow, Keith!” Justin says, waving goodbye to Keith.

“See you tomorrow!” Keith smiles and waves back to Justin. Justin climbs into his car, Keith digs out his keys and steps into his house.

Alone, again. Perfect. Keith didn’t really mind being alone, but every once in awhile, he would let himself dream. Dream of coming home to a husband, or a cat, or maybe even a dog. He just wanted _someone_ to welcome him home, even if it was just his brother. A guy could dream, right?

Keith throws his keys on the table and looks at the clock. Six thirty, and nothing to do. Keith felt like shit, just like every other day after work, even though he’d felt worse before.

Maybe he should go out.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Keith didn’t want to change, it was a waste of quarters for someone who didn’t have a washing machine. So, Keith just decided to wear what he was wearing at work. He didn’t think anyone would mind. He was on his bike at seven fifty.

When Keith parked his bike on the side of the street, he kicked out the kickstand, and got off. Someone was just then unlocking the front doors. Keith recognizes them.

“Hey, Pidge, right?” Keith asks, walking towards them. They turn around.

“Uh, who’re you?” The kid asks, cocking their head to the side a bit.

“I’m Keith? Remember, from last night?” Keith tries to offer an explanation, but realizes it falls flat when they don’t respond. “Your brother knows my brother?”

“Look man, I don’t know who you are.” Pidge says, starting to get a little defensive.

“I’m Tashaki Shirogane’s brother?” Keith tries one last time.

Pidge pauses for a moment. “I feel like I’ve heard that name before.”

“Yeah, you're brother Matt went with him on the Kerberos Mission.” Keith says.

“Ohh, that guy! I begged my brother to let me go with him, but he said that only him, my dad, and Shiro could go.” Pidge says. “I still don’t remember you though.”

“I came in Saturday with my brother, and asked you who could educate me.” Keith explains, hoping they finally get it.

“Oh yeah, you!” Pidge says, smiling. “Well, come on in, we just opened. Lance is already at the bar.” Pidge walks inside, and holds the door open for Keith.

“Thanks.” He says as he walks in. He walks over to the bar, and sits down on the middle stool.

Lance just watches him, a slight look of surprise and annoyance on his face. “Uh, what’re you doing here?” Lance asks. “I thought we both agreed you’d only come on Saturdays.”

“Change of plans.” Keith replies. “Could I have a beer, please?”

“Why, rough day at the office?” Lance asks mockingly.

Keith glares at him. “Don’t be an asshole.”

Lance rolls his eyes. “Whatever.” Lance holds out one hand. “Keys please.”

“What? No.” Keith replies.

Lance groans. “Can’t give you the beer ‘till you give me your keys. I know most bars don’t do that, but I care about the people I serve. I’ll give them back to you in two hours.”

“ _Two hours_?” Keith asks.

“Yeah, that’s how long it takes for one drink to get out of your system.” Lance says, acting as if he were bored. “Keys?”

Keith grabs his keys out of his pocket and drops them into Lance’s hand, careful that he doesn’t touch him. “Now give me a drink.”

“Calm down, I’ll get your damn beer.” Lance snaps, depositing the keys somewhere on one of the shelves behind him. Lance grabs a glass and fills it up, handing it over to Keith, who downs it in five gulps.

“Jesus.” Lance murmurs, grimacing.

Keith ignores him, and sets down the glass. “So, when do people usually start to file in here?”

“About nine. You’re early. Matt hasn’t even turned on the music yet.” Lance says, making pointed looks at Matt across the room.

“Have a request, Lance?” Matt asks from across the room.

“Hell yeah, man! Play ‘OH BO’!” Lance hollars back.

“Aww, yeah!” Matt howls. A nice rhythm starts playing on all the speakers.

 

‘ _I feel like hip-hop used to be a voice for the voiceless, you know?_

_And now it's become-at least in the mainstream-a symbol of... misogyny…_

_Gay panic, fiscally irresponsibility._

_So I figure: If you can't beat 'em,_

_Join 'em._ ’

 

The beat changes.

 

‘ _Hittin' the club up, VIP_

_I got a fake mustache and a fake ID_

_I look like Woolly Willy_

_With a really woolly willy,_

_And I,-_ ’

 

Suddenly, the door to the office/coat closet swing open, slamming on the wall.

“Damn it, Matt! What’d I say about Bo Burnham?” An angry british woman storms out of the office, the music stops.

“Aww, but Allura-” Matt and Lance wine in unison.

“No ‘but’s, you two. I’ve told you Bo Burnham isn’t appropriate for this establishment.” She snaps back, eyeing them both. “Got it?”

“Yes.” Both Lance and Matt groan.

“Good.” She stalks back into her office, slamming the door.

“I’m gonna marry that girl one day.” Matt says dreamily, leaning his elbow on his counter.

“No, you're fucking not!” Lance yells. Keith looks back over at Matt.

“Back off, thot!” Matt calls back. “She’s fucking _mine_!”

“Shut your fucking mouth!” Lance practically snarls. “We all know Allura loves me more.”

“Both of you shut your fucking mouths, or else I’m telling Allura.” Pidge yells at both of them.

Keith hears a muffled, “I already know!” sound from the coat closet.

“Fine, just play ‘Havana’.” Lance responds, rolling his eyes.

“No, you’re mean, I don’t want to.” Matt replies.

“Do it or else I’m telling Jenny what you just said about Allura.” Lance shoots back.

Matt straightens up and narrows his eyes. “You little bitch.”

“Guys, please stop fighting.” A worried voice comes from the kitchen, Coran turns around to look behind him, Keith can’t see who it is, but knows that it's Hunk.

“Okay, fine.” Matt grumbles as he types on his computer. Music starts playing. “Happy?”

“ _Very_.” Lance responds, smiling, his eyes closed, swaying his hips slightly.

“Yeah, whatever.” Matt mumbles from across the room, but Keith could barely hear him.

Keith turns back to Lance to see that he was swaying his hips more. Keith blushes and tries not to look, looking down at his glass instead. The lyrics start.

 

‘ _Havana, ooh na-na (ayy)_ _  
_ _Half of my heart is in Havana, ooh-na-na (ayy, ayy)_ _  
_ _He took me back to East Atlanta, na-na-na_ _  
_ _All of my heart is in Havana (ayy)_ _  
_ _There's somethin' 'bout his manners (uh huh)_   
Havana, ooh na-na’

 

Keith risks a glance up. Lance was now full out dancing, spinning and swaying, a huge smile plastered on his face. He begins to sing along with the song.

 

 _‘He didn't walk up with that "how you doin'?"_ _  
_ _(When he came in the room)_ _  
_ _He said there’s a lot of girls I can do with_ _  
_ _(But I can't without you)_ _  
_ _I'm doin' forever in a minute_ _  
_ _(That summer night in June)_ _  
_ _And papa says he got malo in him_   
He got me feelin' like,’

 

Lance stops and stares at Keith. “Uh, what?”

Keith realizes he was staring, he looks down. “Nothing.”

Before Lance can respond, a group of six girls walk into the building. “We early or what?” One of them hollars.

“Hey ladies, need a drink?” Lance asks from across the room.

“Hell yes!”

“Whooo!”

“Uh, duh?”

“Alright, what can I get ‘ya?” Lance asks when they get to the bar. Before they can answer, he continues. “Oh my God,” he says slowly. “If it isn’t Valery, how’re you doin’?”

“Better once I get a drink in me.” A brown haired girl in a black dress says.

“Alright, who’s the designated driver?” Lance asks.

“Me!” A short, thin girl with blonde hair raises her hand.

“Alright then, what do you guys want?” Lance asks.

Keith spaces out while they order, not really caring what they had to say. He looks at Lance, admiring how charming he was. Maybe if Keith was that charming, he could get a boyfriend. Lance’s eyes were _so blue_ , and _so pretty_ . Keith shakes his head and looks down at the table. He couldn’t believe his gay thoughts just went to _Lance_ , of all people.

As the night went on, more people filed into the bar, until eventually, at nine thirty, the crowd was about three fourths as big as it was Saturday. Lance becomes engaged in a discussion with someone named Klaizap, who has short hair and is wearing a flannel. Keith was just busy trying to not stare at people or things for too long.

“Hey good lookin’, want me to buy you a drink?” Keith had heard that line before at work, and flinched involuntarily. He looks over his left shoulder to see a guy in good shape, with brown hair. “Mind if I sit next to you?”

Keith blushed. “S-Sure.”

The guy sits next to Keith on his left, facing him. “So, what brings you here?”

Keith didn’t know what to say. It was a simple enough question to answer, but Keith was too flushed to answer it properly.

“Hey Rolo, how’s it going?” Lance walks over before Keith can say anything.

“Great, actually.” He rests his left arm on the counter. “I was just talking to this pretty guy right here.” He gently rest his right fingers on Keith’s knee. Keith nearly loses it.

Lance watches Rolo closely. “Right. His name’s Keith, and he’s an asshole.”

Keith whips his head to the right to give Lance a warning glare. This is the closest he’s ever gotten with a guy before, well, flirtatiously at least.

“Really?” Rolo asks him. Despite Lance’s distrusting, disapproving tone, Rolo was still smiling, and still seemed interested. He didn’t remove his fingers from Keith’s knee. “How so?”

Lance rolls his eyes. “Does it matter?” After a short silence in which both Keith and Rolo spent staring at Lance, Lance continues. “Alright, well, he thinks he’s better than everyone.”

“So do I.” Rolo responds playfully.

Lance narrows his eyes. “He also excludes people from stuff.”

Keith didn’t have anytime to process what that meant, because Rolo’s whole hand was over Keith’s knee now. “Doesn’t everyone want some alone time?” Rolo replies. Keith was about to have a heart attack.

Lance, at this point, was practically steaming. “He got suspended for a whole semester of school because he was racing his motorcycle on school property because someone made a bet that he would lose.”

Rolo’s eyes seemed to light up. He was looking at Lance as he moved his hand up to the middle of Keith’s thigh. Luckily Keith had a large T-shirt on, he pulls it down with both hands. “Wow, a bad boy, huh?” Rolo looks at Keith out of the corner of his eye. Keith was bright red, still holding his shirt down, too flustered and caught up in the moment to stop. Rolo smiles when he sees this, and seems to take the hint.

“Well,” He starts, using his left hand to take something out of his jacket pocket, leaving his right hand where it was. “Here’s my card. Ever wanna, hang out, sometime, call me.” Rolo offers him the card, Keith takes the card with his right hand, forgetting what he was hiding. When he remembers he quickly uses his left hand to pull his shirt back over his crotch.

“See you around.” He stands up, letting his right hand slowly slip off of Keith’s leg. Keith swallows a whimper. With one final wink, Rolo disappears into the crowd, and Keith quickly turns back to the bar counter, keeping his left hand where it was. He reads the card he held in his right hand. It was a card for a local mechanics shop somewhere in town, but on the back it had Rolo’s number on it, complete with an ‘XOXO” next to it. He puts it in his jacket pocket.

“Wow, you get, uh, excited, easily.” Lance comments. Keith blushes, but decides not to acknowledge it.

“Thanks for helping me out back there.” Keith says shyly, setting his right hand in his lap with his left.

“I wasn’t helping you!” Lance hisses angrily. “I was trying to get Rolo to think you were a dick and move on.”

Keith flushes at Lance’s choice of words, but still decides to fire back. “Well, it didn’t work, I got his number.” Keith stated proudly.

Lance snorts with annoyed amusement, a sick smile on his face. “Hah, yeah, you sure did. Oh, by the way, just a heads up, you should call him first, because he hands out those cards so often, he’s not even going to remember who he gave it to.”

Keith felt hurt. “What?”

“Yeah, that message on the back? It’s practically just printed on there. Also, he doesn’t stay for breakfast in the morning, either, so be sure to cherish your precious time together.” Lance practically spits at him.

Now Keith felt like shit. He’d known Lance hated him, but this? That was just plain… cruel. Keith took out the card and looked at it. “How do you know?” Keith said, so quiet he wasn’t sure Lance had heard him. When Lance doesn’t respond, Keith pockets the card, and stands up.

“I want my keys.” Keith says plainly.

Lance turns around without a word, grabs Keith’s keys, and dangles them in front of Keith. Lance’s eyes were narrowed with anger, and his eyebrows were furrowed with rage. Two could play at that game.

Keith rips the keys out of Lance’s hand and stocks off without a word. He’s so furious that he doesn’t even notice he’s gotten to the door until he steps outside into the cold night air. He pulls out his phone and checks the time. It was ten. Lance had let him go early.

Keith hops on his motorcycle a speeds away. He drove faster when he was angry. If it wasn’t so late he’d ride around some more, but he had work tomorrow.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Keith couldn’t wait another minute. He woke up that morning feeling like shit, went to work feeling like shit, now he was on his lunch break, still feeling like shit, and wondering if he should even bother calling. He was leaning on one of the kitchen counters, taking a break from pacing.

He couldn’t stand it, he had to call him, he had to see if Lance was right. He dashes into his bedroom and grabs the jacket he wore last night out of his closet. He digs in all of it’s pockets before finally finding the card. He whips out his phone and types the number in. He paces around in his room waiting for Rolo to pick up.

The line connects. “Hello, this is Rolo, what can I do for _you_?” Keith could hear saws going off in the background, and multiple crashes that sounded like metal against metal.

“Uh, hey, remember me?” Keith asks the phone hesitantly.

“I’m sorry, who’s this?” Rolo asks.

Keith’s heart sinks a little. “Uhm… are you sure you don’t remember me?” Rolo is silent.

That’s when Keith remembers that he never actually spoke to Rolo, him and Lance did all the talking. But before he can correct his error, Rolo speaks. “Oh yeah, from last night?”

Keith’s heart soars. “Y-Yeah.”

Rolo laughs. “Man that was a great night. I’d love to do it again, but..”

Keith felt confused.

“Sorry,” Rolo continues. “But, it was a one night stand, alright? I’m looking for fun, not a long term thing. Maybe we could do it again sometime, I had fun last night. See ‘ya.”

“Bye…” Rolo hangs up the phone before Keith can get a chance. Keith was completely crushed. Did Rolo even know that it was Keith who called? Did he _fuck_ another guy the same night that he gave Keith his number? Keith balls his hands up into fists, almost crushing his phone. Now he knew, Lance was right.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this is old. I'm actually still kind of proud of this work (the whole thing, actually), and I'm not sure if I want to scrap the whole thing, or just work with what I got. I'll keep experimenting and see what I come up with, for now, here's chapter 4 part one, the old version.

Justin’s smile was quite possibly the best thing on planet earth. Keith had been feeling shitty all week long, as he usually did at work, but today he’d decided to have lunch on the job. Everyone that showed up for work that day had decided to take a half day, and go home after lunch. Keith decided to stay for lunch, seeing as he still enjoyed Justin’s company  _ thoroughly _ .

Justin laughs. “I cannot be _ lieve _ that I am  _ just _ now finding this out!”

Keith felt his face warm up a little bit. “Uh, yeah.” He lets out a nervous huff of laughter.

“Dude, I would watch  _ ‘Jurassic Park’ _ every _ day _ as a kid! I thought I was the only one!”

Keith smiles. “You thought you were the only person who enjoyed  _ ‘Jurassic Park’ _ ? I could say, ‘Clever girl.’ to anyone and they would automatically know it was from  _ ‘Jurassic Park’ _ .”

Justin snorts, taking a bite of his sandwich before saying, “Uhm, I didn’t want to be exposed as a nerd, alright? Besides,” He swallows. “‘Life finds a way.’ is a  _ way  _ more iconic quote from  _ ‘Jurassic Park’ _ then ‘Clever girl.’”

Keith rolls his eyes and takes a bite from his sandwich. “Bullshit.”

“You’re just saying that because you like the raptor guy for some reason.” Justin smiles, a slight blush on his face.

Keith frowns and watches Justin out of the corner of his eye as he speaks. “First of all, he’s not ‘the raptor guy’, his name is Robert Muldoon. Second of all,  _ Robert Muldoon _ is by  _ far _ the best character in  _ ‘Jurassic Park’ _ .”

Justin stands up straight, no longer resting his back comfortably on the excavator. He lets out a fake laugh. “Are you fucking kidding me? The raptor guy, is the best character? Now who’s spouting bullshit?”

“Okay, who do you think is the best?” Keith asks.

“Duh, doctor Sattler.” Justin leans back against the giant machine again.

“Absolutely not, no way.”

“How is she not the best?”

“How is Robert not the best? Explain yourself.”

“Okay,” Justin sighs and put his hands together. “Doctor Ellie Sattler is by far the best character because she cares about the dinosaurs  _ so much _ and treats them like actual living creatures.”

“So do half of the main characters. Make up a better excuse.” Keith smiles as he takes another bite of his sandwich.

Justin makes an annoyed “ugh” sound. “Okay, why are you so adamant about this? Why is Robert whomever-the-fuck the best?”

Keith’s smile fades. Sure, Keith legitimately liked the character that Bob Peck had played in the movie, but he also really liked his tight cargo shorts. Keith clears his throat.

“He’s the best because… he’s  _ so _ badass. Like, no one can even compare, y’know?”

“You know who could compare?” Keith sighs. “Doctor Ellie Sattler.”

“I get it.”

“She’s a  _ doctor _ .”

“Real fans read the book.”

“I don’t need to read the book to know that Ellie is still the best.”

“I get it, you have a crush on her.” The words were out of Keith’s mouth before he could stop himself. He risks a glance up at Justin who was completely frozen, his face as deep red as a cherry.

“Quitting time everyone! Whoever wants to come back to the bar and have a few drinks with me, you are welcome to!” Donovan shouts.

“Only if you’re paying!” Johnny fires back.

Keith looks back up at Justin, who seemed to still be recovering, and was still blushing profusely. “See you Monday, Justin. Have a good weekend.” Keith tried to sound as cheery as possible, but didn’t do too great of a job.

“See you Monday.” Justin says nervously, but he has a smile on his face, so Keith calls it a win. Keith smiles as he heads back to his house. He’s in the middle of a day dream about Justin, when he hears someone call his name. He looks across the street to see Althor.

“Keith! How’s it going?” He asks, walking across the street to talk to him. All he’s wearing is a navy blue robe, a white T-shirt, and a pair of blue boxers. Keith felt his face get hot as he approached. Was his sexuality going to tease him all day long?

“It’s been good, how about you?” Keith asks.

“Oh good, reconnected with an old, friend.” The slight pause before “friend” made Keith curious, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to ask. Only then did he notice the second car in Althor’s driveway.  _ Oh _ . “Hey,” Keith looks Althor in the eye when his voice suddenly becomes sincere and serious. “I noticed you looked a little down recently, and I just wanted you to know that you can talk to me about anything you like.” When Keith doesn’t respond, he continues. “I mean  _ anything _ . I’m here for you.”

Keith felt surprised, no one besides his many foster parents and Shiro had said that to him before. He’s certainly never heard any of that from a neighbor. “Thank you Althor, I really appreciate it.” Keith says, meaning every word.

“I haven’t seen you go anywhere this week, but I heard that you went out a few days ago, so I was concerned. You should go to… a bar or something, loosen up a bit.”

He had to be joking, right? Surely Althor didn’t know-

“Oh look! Corran’s awake, hi Corran!” Althor turns around just in time to see a Corran with terrible bed head slip out of  _ Althor’s _ house. Keith couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Corran looks up to see Althor and Keith. Althor waves, Corran blushes profusely, waves back, and makes a mad dash for his car.

“Corran’s the greatest.” Althor turns his attention back to Keith, who felt extremely embarrassed. “Anyway Keith, you should go to the bar, have some fun, meet a nice guy, forget you're problems.” Keith was frozen. Althor smiles kindly, and plants a warm heavy hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit  _ shit _ .” Keith curses out loud as he frantically digs through his dresser drawers and his closet, desperately trying to find something to wear. He was late. He’d taken a nap after work while watching reruns of old  _ ‘Criminal Minds’ _ episodes, and had slept in. Thankfully it was Friday, and he didn’t have to go to work tomorrow, but that didn’t really matter, because the bar had opened about an hour ago. It was nine seventeen on a Friday night and Keith couldn’t think of anywhere else he’d rather be.

He pulls on a tight black T-shirt, the old jacket he’d wear in high school, and blue jeans. He grabs his keys and his helmet and dashes out the door. He hops on his bike with no hesitation and starts it up, kicking in the kickstand and taking off. He goes only a few miles over the speed limit as he rushes to his new found sanctuary. As he rides through town, he begins to think of ‘Voltron’.

Everyone was so friendly, so open. Keith felt at home there, despite Lance’s aggression and obvious distaste in Keith. Keith had never felt so exposed, yet so free. It felt like a huge weight had slid off of his shoulders when he’d told Shiro he was gay. He couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to completely come out. Which was sort of what Keith was doing, almost. It wasn’t really his goal to come out, he just didn’t want to hide anymore. He was tired of avoiding questions, and lying, and shrugging off the hatred and bigotry that he’d seen and heard over the years. It was finally  _ his _ time.

Keith pulls up in front of the bar and turns the key, kicks out the kickstand, and uses a bike chain to connect his helmet and bike rail together. He speed walks to the door and quickly walks through, again remembering how packed it was on the weekend. He looks over at Pidge, who had sacks under their eyes and appeared to barely be keeping their head up.

“Hey Pidge, how’s it going?” Walking up to Pidge. “You okay?”

Pidge puts on a weak smile. “Nothing a beer wouldn’t fix… if only I wasn’t on the job.”

Keith reads their name tag again. This time it had she/her pronouns, and a gray and pink flag next to it. “What’s that flag for?” Keith asks.

“Oh,” Pidge says, pulling her shirt out to look at the sticker. “That’s the demigirl flag.”

“Oh, what does that mean?” Keith asks.

“It’s when someone feels partially female but also is on the agender scale, has Lance been teaching you nothing?” Pidge asks with a smile.

“I got busy this week, haven’t been able to come in.” Keith replies. It was only partially a lie. See, there were a few reasons why Keith had decided not to go to the bar all week. The first being that Lance had been right, and knowing Lance Keith was going to get teased because of it. Second was that Keith had been depressed and pissed off all week because of his, “situation”, at work. And third being that he wanted to see how long he could last without it. Of course the third reason wasn’t actually a reason to stay away from the bar, but Keith’s depressing thoughts had fueled it. That reason alone had kept him away for the last day and a half, but Keith had finally given in.

“Oh, I hope you get less-busy and come in more often, Lance never shuts up about you, even when you’re not here.” Pidge says.

Keith blushes. “What?”

“Just go see Lance, I’m tired of hearing him complain about your standoff or whatever. I would say he’ll be happy to see you, but…” Pidge shrugs her shoulders and lifts up her hands.

“Oh, thanks Pidge, see you later!”  _ ‘Why did you say  _ thanks _?’ _ Keith silently asks himself as he makes his way through the crowd.

When he sees the bar, he’s almost relieved to see Lance’s face. He actually, and quite literally, smiles upon seeing him. Which, for Keith, had only happened with very few people. He sits down at the bar, which was a little packed, and watched Lance. Lance ran up and down the length of the bar, taking orders, serving drinks, and asking what people wanted.

“And what would you like-?” Lance stops mid sentence when he realizes it’s Keith. “Oh, you. I’m a little busy, we’ll talk when I’m done.”

Keith was a little disappointed, but couldn’t argue with him. After all, this was his job. Lance continues to take orders, and serve drinks, until, after fifteen minutes, it calms down, and people begin to dance more than drink. Lance approaches Keith.

“So, not that I care or anything, but where have you been?” Lance asks.

Keith rubs the back of his neck. “I’ve been, busy.”

Lance looked like he had follow ups, but didn’t mention anything. “Okay, I’ve got more people to serve, I can’t talk tonight.” Lance walks up and down the bar, which had gotten busier, and continues to serve drinks. In between his day dreams, Keith noticed that Lance didn’t seem to have his flirty attitude with any of the customers, which surprised him a little. As long as Keith had known Lance, he had been flirty, to almost and pretty much everyone.

As the night continued, Keith noticed that Lance was starting to loosen up more, and was starting to flirt again. However, Keith also noticed that Lance was starting to make more mistakes. Not only was Lance messing up more orders, but he was also tripping on more things, and spilling more things. Keith felt that something was off, and that’s when it happened. Keith awoke from his daydream to Lance leaning in close to him.

“You know, I don’t know why I don’t like you.” Lance smiles. “You’re so,  _ great _ .”

Keith took in a breath, suspicious, embarrassed, and more than a little shocked that Lance would say something positive about Keith. His thoughts stopped for a minute.

“Lance, open your mouth.” Keith says, startling Lance a little.

“Whatever you say, hot stuff.” Lance sticks out his tongue.

Keith blushes a little. “I mean for real, breathe on my face.” Keith commands, this time, Lance didn’t seem to understand, but did exactly as Keith said. Keith couldn’t believe it.

“You stay here, I’m going to go get Allura.” Keith stands up.

“Awe, don’t go, baby!” Lance calls after him, snickering to himself when Keith turns around, bright red. Keith weaves his way through the crowd, and knocks on the door to Allura’s office.

“Hey, Allura? I need to talk to you.” Keith says to the door, trying to make his voice heard over the music by Allura and not the people around him. The door opens and a dark skinned woman with white hair steps out. She seems surprised to see Keith standing there, and not one of her co-workers.

“Uhm, can I help you?” She asks in a British accent, maybe she knew Althor?

“I don’t really know how to say this,” Keith starts out. “But I think that Lance might be drunk.” Allura blinks a few times. “I smelled alcohol on his breath.”

“Oh my, thank you for bringing this to my attention.” Allura pushes through the crowd towards the kitchen door, and Keith quickly follows. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do, but he wanted to help. Allura disappears in the kitchen, Keith waits patiently outside the door, from his position, he spots a drunk Lance heavily being supported by Allura walk through the door from the bar to the kitchen. They come out of the kitchen together, right in front of Keith.

“Corran, please take over the bar, I’ll take orders from the counter when I’m done with Lance.” Allura tells him. Corran nods while Lance murmurs, “I like the sound of that.” under his breath. Allura walks Lance over to Pidge’s counter, Keith following behind awkwardly.

“Pidge, would you mind taking Lance home? He’s very intoxicated.” Allura asks nicely, but without a hint of a smile on her face.

“Oh shit, what’d he do this time?” But Pidge already knew. “I can’t take the rest of this shift off, I need the hours.”

Keith looks back and forth between Allura and Pidge. “I could take him home, if that’s okay.” Allura turns to her left, peeking behind Lance, while Pidge whips her head to her right to look at Keith in surprise.

“You’d do that?” Pidge asks.

“Uh, yeah, anything I can do to help.” Keith responds.

“Good.” Allura hands Lance to Keith, who nearly crumpled under his added weight. “Thank you, I owe you one.” And with that, Allura takes off across the bar to Corran’s counter, which happened to now be Allura’s.

“Thanks man, I owe you one too.” Pidge smiles. “See you later, jackass! Thanks again Keith!” Keith walks out the door with Lance on his right shoulder. After getting used to Lance’s weight, it wasn’t too bad.

“So, we going to your place?” Lance asks suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows for special effect.

“No, we’re going to your place.” Keith reponds. “Now give me your keys.”

“Don’t have them.” Lance smiles down at Keith, their faces dangerously close.

“Now is not the time to joke around Lance.” Keith warns him.

“I seriously don’t have them.” Lance shakes his head as he talks, finally letting his droopy eyes land on Keith’s.

“Keith? Keith Kogane?” Keith freezes, terror struck him, but not Lance. As Keith turns to his left, he feels Lance trying to see around him. The voice belonged to a blonde girl Keith’s age. He instantly recognized her. Standing in the middle of the sidewalk, watching Keith try to carry Lance, was Jennifer.

Lance beats him to it. “Jennifer?”

“Lance?” She asks with a smile. “Wow, it’s really you guys!”

Keith didn’t know what to say. “Uh, hey.”

“Hello.” Lance purrs. Keith digs his nails into Lance’s right side.

“Wow, it’s been forever, how’re you doing Keith?” Jennifer asks.

“I’m doing well, how about you?” Keith asks, but before Jennifer can answer, Lance chips in.

“I’m doing  _ great _ , now that you’re here baby.” Lance winks at Jennifer, Keith blushes.

“I’m sorry about him, he’s drunk.” Keith apologizes, digging his nails further into Lance’s side.

“Well, I see Lance hasn’t changed.” She smiles. “What about you, anything new?”

Keith almost felt tempted to tell her, but Lance’s laughter stops him. Keith decides to take the easier path, lying. “Nope, what about you?”

“Nope, just here on a business trip. Do you live here?”

“Yeah.” The conversation went silent, Keith could almost feel himself drowning.

“Hey,” Jennifer starts. “Even though Lance is here, can I ask you kind of a personal question?”

Keith swallows. “Sure.”

Jennifer takes a step closer so that she was only two feet away. “Do you remember, that night?”

Keith’s stomach was in knots. Of course he remembered that night, the most awkward, most embarrassing night of his life. Back when he was in high school, around when they were both seventeen, Jennifer asked Keith if he wanted to go on a date. Keith had said yes, not wanting to hurt her feelings, and they both decided to go to the nearby Italian restaurant after school. Keith drove her, they both went inside, and Keith remembered that she had gotten spaghetti and meatballs while he’d gotten the panini with red sauce. They sat in silence for most of the “date”, the only conversations emerging were the ones that Jennifer tried to start.

For the rest of the year, they avoided each other. Or at least, Keith avoided Jennifer, who kept trying to get ahold of him. Keith decided after that, to not go out on dates with girls. Keith had wanted to treat Jennifer nicely, but he found it hard to connect with anyone at all, especially a girl he was supposed to be on a date with.

So yes, in short, he remembered the date. “Uh yeah, I think I vaguely remember that.”

“So, I just wanted to ask, why you didn’t like me?” Keith felt surprised, desperation started to creep in. “It was our only date, you wouldn’t talk to me, I just wanted to know what went wrong.”

Lance laughs. “Oh sweetheart,” Keith heart leaps out of his chest. Surely, Lance of all people, wouldn’t do what Keith hoped he wasn’t about to do? “Oh sweet Jennifer, Keith’s  _ gay _ .”

Keith’s fingers were squeezing Lance’s side so hard, Keith thought that Lance might start to bleed. Keith couldn’t look at Jennifer, he kept his eyes on Lance’s face, wishing he could disappear. He finally risks a glance up.

“Oh,” Jennifer starts, Keith looks away. “That’s such a relief.” Keith looks up in surprise. “I thought it was  _ me _ , I thought  _ I’d _ done something wrong. It was six months before I had the confidence to date again.”

Keith didn’t know what to say.

Jennifer looks up at him. “Thank you for being honest Keith.” She stretches on her toes and kisses Keith on the cheek. “Hopefully I’ll see you around sometime!”

After awhile, Keith sighs. “I guess we’re taking my motorcycle.”

Keith and Lance sit down on his motorcycle, Lance seemed to be significantly less at ease. Keith hands him his only helmet, and Lance straps it on his head.

“Don’t drive crazy.” Lance orders him. “I’ve  _ seen _ you on this bike.”

“I’ll drive however I damn well please.” He murmurs through gritted teeth. Lance puts on the helmet. “Where do you live.”

“Pfft, I’m not telling you, stalker.” Lance crosses his arms.

“You just outed me, and you have the audacity to-?” Keith whips around to yell at Lance but he cuts him off.

“Come on, my place isn’t sexy, your place is sexy.” Lance says with a smile. Honestly, what did he think was going to happen tonight?

“You’ve never even  _ seen  _ my house.” Keith responds.

“You have a house?” Lance asks. “That’s way sexier then my place. I live in an apartment with Pidge and Matt.”

“Seriously?” Keith asks, but when Lance doesn’t respond, Keith realizes he’s lost interest. Keith sighs again. “Put your arms around me, we’re going to my house.”

“Whooo!” Lance throws his arms in the air. When Keith starts the motorcycle, Lance wraps his long arms around Keith’s waist. Keith kicks in the kickstand and takes off, speeding down the streets, purposely taking the long way home so that he could take more sharp turns and dangerous passes. Lance’s arms tightened around Keith’s waist, with every sharp turn and quick stop. Finally Keith got to his house and stopped the bike. Without even waiting for Keith to turn off the bike, Lance hopped off and stumbled into the yard. While Keith turned off the bike and kicked out the kickstand, Lance got down on all fours and puked in one of the bushes on the side of Keith’s house. Keith walks up behind Lance, who was wiping his mouth with the back of his white-and-blue-flannel’s sleeve. Keith offers him and hand, and Lance takes it, staggering to his feet.

“Helmet.” Keith orders, and Lance obeys him without any complaints. Keith takes the helmet with them to the front door, which takes awhile to unlock because of Keith only having his left hand available. When he finally gets the door open, he walks Lance to the bedroom, only after shutting the front door behind them. He drops Lance on the bed.

“If you need to throw up, don’t.” Keith walks to the closet and grabs a blanket. He sets the blanket down at the end of the bed and leans over Lance to grab a pillow. Once he has both the pillow and the blanket, he picks them up and makes his way over to the door.

“Why would you do this?” Keith asks himself as he walks out.

“Excavated.” Lance murmurs.

Keith pauses for a moment, the room was completely silent. “What?”

“Excavated, we’re being excavated.” Lance gestures wildly with his right hand, and struggles to a sitting position.

“Do you mean evicted?” Keith asks, hoping he guessed wrong.

“Yes! That, that. That’s why…” Lance pauses for a moment, as if he were thinking, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. “That’s why, Pidge is tired, and Matt isn’t funny.”

Keith stood there for a moment in the doorway, watching Lance stare at his own crotch and struggle to keep his sitting position. Keith felt an overwhelming amount of pity and guilt. Perhaps it wasn’t really Lance that hated him. Maybe Lance was just stressed out about being evicted.

“Goodnight Lance, I’ll see you in the morning.” Keith shuts the door before Lance has the chance to say anything else. He drops the blanket and pillow down on the couch, and lays them out. Once it looks kind of like a bed, Keith sets his phone on the floor, lays down on the couch, and wraps himself up in the plain blue fleece blanket.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, there'll be more (hopefully, I don't really have a full plot worked out).
> 
> Hope you liked chapter one, Kudos and comments are really appreciated (thanks for reading)!


End file.
